Persona 3: Darkest Hour
by Persona-Memories
Summary: Yuki, a 12-year-old in New York, is moving to Iwatodai to discover the cause of the Shadows. Ready to combat anything, she must learn the meaning of so many things: life, death, love, and the truth of everything. M for violence. Ken/OC.
1. Prologue: New York

PROLOGUE: NEW YORK (6/12 Tokyo Time)

The Dark Hour. You'd never expect something like a hidden hour in time. All those books that talk about it, they're all science fiction, right? Wrong. Dead wrong. And I literally mean dead. Believing it doesn't exist gets you killed. Then again, it's New York City. Death is always moving around us. Since when is that new?

"Ygdrassil!" Johnny cried. The blonde angel, Ygdrassil, was summoned up from his soul and used Hamaon to destroy the last of the Darkness.

Did I forget to mention I'm not the only one who goes through this? Considering the size of the city, you'd think there'd be a lot of us, right? Hundreds? Maybe more?

"Nice work, Johnny!" Ariana called. Xeig and Johnny merrily hi-fived each other.

But there's not. Including me, there are five of us.

Only. Five.

"Okay, this is the last night, guys. We've got to be as strong as possible, since Yuki's leaving tomorrow." Matthew was always serious. I'd honestly be surprised if he wasn't. But I was probably gonna miss him more than Ariana, Johnny, and Xeig combined. Sure, they were great friends, but Matthew and I had been thick as thieves for years, an inseparable duo.

"Don't remind me! We're gonna miss you, chicky!" Xeig said jokingly. His parents were huge opera fans, but he was just an average Joe in NYC. You wouldn't be able to find anyone with a bigger collection of playboys under their bed, though. He says it's all about the legs. Just for that, I'm glad I'm still twelve.

"You can't leave me alone with these freaks, Yuki! I need a girlfriend around here…" Ariana whined, giving me a huge hug. Ariana's pretty normal in comparison to the rest of us, except she's got the biggest boobs in the whole damn city, and is practically a walking danger magnet. I'm still shocked that she's in high school and not college.

"Aw, don't be so hard on the kid. You're gonna suffocate her with those implants," Johnny told her with a smirk. Ariana let go of me long enough to take a swing at Johnny. Johnny is the biggest goof in the whole country. He actually found an online print out application for clown school. And filled it out.

"They are completely natural, _Jonathan_!" Ariana told him, stressing his full name as if that made it more obvious, attempting to kick him but slipping and falling on her butt.

"You sure those implants aren't knocking your equilibrium?" Xeig called, running as she got up and chased the both of them around the middle of the street. This was, luckily, the only lot for 10 blocks that wasn't surrounded by normal people. The bloodstained grass, the rusted and broken chain-link fences, were all ours, our head base against the Darkness. We mostly found them close to the docks or on Ellis Island. There weren't many here in New York, but we figured that they were coming across the ocean on boats.

I was really gonna miss these people. My absence would not just bring about the consequence of lost numbers or lost strength; that truly reassured me in my decision to leave. If we had to send someone to set up an operation of Darkness elimination, it had to be me; being without parents, fluent in Japanese, and the strongest of the group, my chances of survival in Japan were the highest and my schooling the least affected out of us all. I made the perfect candidate.

I checked my watch. "It's almost time, guys!" I called over to the rest of them. Matthew stayed by my side the entire time. Everyone else gathered around.

Xeig started out with his farewell speech. "Well, tonight will be a night of misery. And that's because my mom found my porno mags—" Matthew kicked him as a sign of "get to the point already" "—_and _because Yuki's leaving tomorrow morning. Yuki, you are the bravest twelve-year-old I know, chicky. Not because you _can_ kick Darkness ass, but because you _chose_ to."

Ariana was up next. "Yuki, you are the cutest little machine of death I've ever met! And comparing you to my brother, that's saying something. Being the only girl on this team's gonna suck. Take care of yourself! And if you have any boys bugging you, you come and call me. I'll be out there in a heartbeat to kick their asses!" She gave me a squeeze before Johnny started.

"I know that you're a twelve-year-old girl, but you are tougher than all of NYC put together, kiddo. I'm going to die of old age before I can get you something to make up for all the times you, of all people, have managed to save my ass. Here, enjoy." He handed me the best gift he could ever give me.

"Where did you drag that ratty old thing from?" Xeig asked.

"Hey, I resent that!" Johnny stated.

"Hey, is that Carlisle?" Ariana asked. "You're stuffed kitten that you never let Yuki even _touch_, Carlisle?"

"Hey, she was a messy little runt back then! And she had meat sauce all over her hands!" Johnny growled in his own defense.

"Wrong, it was meat sauce _and_ Kool-Aid. But same idea." Matthew said.

"Shut up!" Johnny hissed. He turned back to me. "Anyway, you still interested?"

"Thanks, Johnny!" I said, gingerly taking Carlisle. I held the kitten close. _Still smells like blackberries…_

It was time for Matthew to begin.

"I'm going to miss you, Yuki. We've all been in this group for a while now. If we ever want to remember you, Yuki, we want to remember you for that first night. If any of us think we're losing, we can find strength in that memory of you." Matthew brought out the treasure trove—soda pop. He passed us each a bottle of pop, and raised his in a toast. "To Yuki."

"To Yuki." We clinked our bottles together, and took a sip of the pop.

At that moment, I felt my bonds of the Aeon, Chariot, Lovers, and Strength Arcanas become unbreakable. I sighed in content. They'd never forget me, no matter what. _That's good to know…_

"Now for gifts!" Xeig said, pulling out a key with a gold crown print on a thick chain. I gasped.

"That's the key to your secret stash! Really, Xeig?"

"Well, I couldn't have my mom getting the rest of them! Besides, I'm quitting. I met a girl last week," he said with pride, handing it to me. I put the key in my pocket.

"What a load!" Ariana told him, shoving a box into my hands. I opened it.

"It's something I got when I was your age. It'll give those little Asian boys nosebleeds," she told me with a wink.

The box contained a white flaring miniskirt with blue roses embroidered on the hem. It was beautiful, and looked like it might have been used once, if at all.

"I expect to see you wearing that when we see you off tomorrow!" Ariana said.

"Here." Matthew handed me a small blue velvet box. I opened it and smiled. _I remember this…_

"Omigosh! Try it on!" Ariana insisted. I put the small ring on my ring finger, the left hand. The little cutout of a cross on silver stood boldly against my pale skin.

"Thanks, guys. You're the best friends I could ever have…" I really was going to miss them. Matthew gave me that look that has always reassured me that it will, despite what it seems to be, end out all right.

I looked out at the sea. _Time to see what awaits me in Japan…_


	2. Iwatodai

CHAPTER ONE: IWATODAI (6/13 Tokyo Time)

I arrived at a station with no one I knew. _I'm in high school now. They shouldn't have to send someone to get me. Age doesn't matter. _My last school's councilor was the one that told me that last part, about how age doesn't matter. I didn't like my last school's counselor, now that I'd thought about it. My pissed-off New Yorker mentality kicked in with fervor. _What a load…_

It was the late afternoon, and I knew I had to check in before dark. I walked through the Iwatodai strip mall, past an empty lot, through a bunch more streets, and, even though night had fallen, finally made it to the large brick building. It was 5 stories—including the landing leading up to the roof—which seemed small compared to New York. I clutched Carlisle tightly. I was even wearing the skirt Ariana gave me along with a blue-trimmed white button-down shirt, as well as the ring from Matthew, while the key from Xeig was looped onto my backpack.

I opened the doors to find an empty lobby. Maybe it was later than I thought? I walked inside and shut the door behind me. I walked over to the main desk, like check-in, and saw a boy on the other side.

"Hello." His voice was strange. Familiar, but not.

"Who're you?" My Japanese was better than I'd thought it would be. The hours practicing when I was little with Matthew had paid off. This boy scared me, just a little bit. His short, dark hair and those blue eyes… They were odd on this boy, who had on pajamas that looked like the old American prison clothes, the horizontal black and white stripes.

"I'm a part of someone who you'll probably meet very soon. But first, I need you to sign your contract." He was standing in front of me now, and motioned over to the desk area, where a red folder with a clear plastic cover were opened to reveal a contract page.

"My contract?" _This boy is weird. He's talking about weird things. The papers the school sent said nothing about a contract…_

"It's just something that says you will take responsibility for your actions. You know, the usual stuff." The way he said "the usual stuff" made my skin crawl.

I picked up the pen sitting on top of the paper and signed my name very carefully and slowly, trying to measure a reaction from him. But I couldn't get anything. _This isn't good; I can tell this is bull. So why am I signing it anyways…?_

When I finished, the contract was all of a sudden in his hands, and with one flick of the wrist, it disappeared into thin air.

"No one can escape time. It delivers us all to the same end. You can't plug your ears or cover your eyes. And so it begins. See you around." And he disappeared into the shadows of the room, a small wave from the tips of his fingers for me before they were engulfed by the dark.

I heard a noise at 10 o'clock, and turned to face it immediately. I saw an outline of a woman, it seemed, with long hair. She stepped into the light, and her hair faintly glowed the color red.

I had no time. The Dark Hour could start any time, now. It could be going on right now, and I wouldn't know. Nothing in this dorm gave me a clue that it was the Dark Hour. And if it _was_ the Dark Hour, the next hour was almost here anyway. My weapon got shipped in with the rest of my things, hidden away inside my bags. _Just a few more seconds, now…_

(6/14)

The electricity in the room came on like a bomb flash. The light that had flooded through the room, and I realized that the Dark Hour had already passed. _Why didn't I notice this on my way here?_ I realized how severe this was. _I could've gotten attacked. I need to pay more attention to this…_

The girl's hair erupted into a cascading flame down her back, and behind her poked out a girl a little shorter, with shoulder-length light brown hair. _God, I didn't even notice this girl until now! What the hell's wrong with me?_

"I didn't think you'd arrive so late. My name is Mitsuru Kirijo. I'm one of the students who live in this dorm," the redhead told me.

"Who's she?" the brunette asked Mitsuru.

"She's a transfer student. It was last minute to assign her here." Mitsuru told the girl.

_Guess Japanese schools are just as poorly organized as American schools…_

"…Is it okay for her to be here?" she asked.

_Psh, like she could take on _half_ the things I've had to…_

"I guess we'll see…" Mitsuru said with a shake of her head, turning back to me. "This is Yukari Takeba. She'll be a junior this spring."

"…Hey." Yukari said.

"Nice to meet you…" I mumbled, brushing my skirt down farther.

"Uh, y-yeah…" She said. "Nice to meet you, too…"

"It's getting late, so you should get some rest. Your room is the last on the left on the third floor. Your things should already be there," Mitsuru told me.

"I'll show you the way. Follow me," Yukari said, leading me upstairs.

As soon as we made it to the second floor, I told her, "You really don't have to show me the way, I'll be alright on my own…" I wanted her to leave so that I could unpack my things in peace.

"It's fine, and it's right across from my room, anyway." She told me. We made it to my room just fine, and she handed me the key.

"This is your room. Pretty easy to remember, since it's right at the end of the hall. Don't lose the key, or you'll never hear the end of it. Any questions?" she asked me. I was about to shake my head no, but thought better of it.

"What was up with that contract?" I asked her. She gave me a weird look.

"What contract?" she asked.

"Never mind…" I mumbled.

"Hey, was everything okay on your way here?" she asked. I thought about it. Even though I hadn't realized the transition from the regular world and the Dark Hour, I hadn't been attacked by any Darkness.

_Guess that's not a real problem here…There's always a few spots that have no Darkness problems…_

"…Yeah, it was." I told her.

"Okay, never mind, then. Its just that you seem a little young to be in high school."

"I took classes over the summer to advance grades."

"Oh, that's pretty cool. I better get going. I'm sure you have other questions, but let's save them for later, okay? Good night." She walked down the hall, entered her room, and shut the door behind her.

_Yeah, well, my questions include: do you know what's going on around here, how long have you known, and are you a friend or foe to me?_

I unlocked my bedroom door and went inside to find a room with a sink, a desk, a closet, a coat rack, and a bed with a mattress on it. My three trunks were lying at the foot of the bed, next to the window.

_Let's see if the bed is nailed down…_

Luckily for me, it wasn't. I dragged the bed over so that when I would lie down, I could see the moon. I flicked on the lights and started unpacking.

First I put away my clothes. I didn't have much, even with my new uniforms, so it only took up half of the first trunk. My desk setup went next, which included all my books, my computer, its accessories, pens, pencils, papers, CDs, DVDs, and blank discs. It took up its own specific trunk. After that went my toiletries and bedding, taking up the other half of my first trunk. And finally went my TV with a built-in DVD player, and my two katanas. I hooked everything up, put my katanas in their own hiding place next to a knife Matthew had snuck into my baggage for some reason, and made my bed. I changed out of my clothes and sat down on my bed, the dark blue sheets standing out against my white pajamas, my black backpack in my lap.

I took out my map papers, my favorite jacket, my DS, my Ipod, and my snacks and items bag. I set up an operation of exploration for the city by circling the main target areas and numbering them. This dorm seemed to be secure, so I marked it with a red skull stamp and refolded the map up, planning to get used to the layout of this dorm before doing any drastic explorations.

Putting the few things I had left away and dropping my backpack on top of the stack of trunks, I squeezed Carlisle tightly to my chest, curled up under the covers, and went to sleep.

(6/20)

It had taken a lot of work, but I managed to restock my snacks and items bag, sharpen my katanas as well as Matt's knife, and tinkered with the batteries for my tech so they'd last 5 times as long as usual. I was careful all week, just to make sure that no one saw me. It was already close to the Dark Hour. I hadn't left my room or the roof-my new secret hideout-much, just to sneak out and shop. Inside the building, I'd run into Mitsuru-senpai once, Yukari-senpai twice, and also into a boy with short silver hair on the way up from the bathroom. I'd overheard Mitsuru-senpai and the silver-haired boy, Akihiko-senpai, talking about a new boy moving in.

_I wonder what this new boy is like…? _I hoped he could use Persona. That's what this power really was, honestly. A part of you no one else can see, that sometimes even you don't see, until you're ready. An extension of you. So far, I'd seen hints that my dorm-mates could all use Persona. _Can't let them know that I'm a user, though. Just in case…_ So I bided my time, waiting to meet this new boy. He was supposed to arrive at Iwatodai Station at 11:30; that was barely enough time to find his way here and be in bed before the Dark Hour started. That is, if he was normal. But maybe no one in this dorm was normal…

I, for the first time in the whole week I'd been in Japan, came downstairs and sat down on one of the couches to wait. No one else was downstairs, so I thought of it as an opportunity to listen to some music. I put in my ear bud headphones and just sat there, listening to my music in otherwise absolute silence, waiting for the new arrival.

_Maybe he'll be that person the kid was talking about…_I checked the next song. _Frank Sinatra_ by _CAKE_. It was a CD my father had from a long time ago, one of the few things I'd gotten to keep after 9/11. The rest of my parents' belongings had gone to a storage area back in New York, where the rest of my past lay…

Time passed quickly, and the Dark Hour fell. I didn't think I'd need my katana. This place, unlike New York, felt slowed down and safe. Not at all like Matthew's apartment. And slowly, I began to let my mind unwind and analyze my thoughts. I hadn't been living with Matthew for long. Only a few years, since he lived in Japan before he came to New York. He was a good cousin, dependable and kind to me. He just…wasn't my mom and dad. I missed them. I always missed them. I still had dreams about days before then, the day it happened, and all the days after. It was an everlasting nightmare, almost.

Matthew turned the nightmare to a comfortable haze and brought out the good memories I had in my life, even helping me to make new ones. Before I got the call to confirm my transfer to Japan, I was truly beginning to adjust, to be happy. Even if they weren't my age and we only hung out to destroy mind-eating monsters in NYC that didn't happen to be in a videogame, I had friends. Regardless of the fact that I was a twelve-year-old in a class usually meant for fifteen-to-seventeen-year-olds, I was doing well in school. I was no longer living in an overly crowded orphanage or being shoved out of said orphanage and being sent to a homeless shelter. Doesn't sound like I'd be too happy, but hey, it's better than letting my mind rot away in a corner and living a "normal" life, if that's what you'd be able to call it.

The music playing through my headphones ended abruptly in the middle of the _Trans-Siberian Orchestra's_ remix of _Carol of the Bells_. I took off one side of my headphones to increase my hearing range, the ear closest to the front entrance uncovered, leaving the other covered to signal when exactly the Dark Hour ended. I studied the lounge through the haze of the Dark Hour, the eerie glow it cast onto everything, the inky black shadows left in corners where the light of the green moon couldn't reach through. The hour stretched by in a fair expanse, although to me, it felt longer in my companionless state.

Finally, near the end of the hour, I hear the sound of footsteps outside. These weren't the slinking sound of a stray Darkness moving about, but the true strides and footfalls of another living human being. The front doors opened, and in walked a boy with dark hair and eyes, wearing silver headphones and the school uniform. I sat frozen in place, unnerved, as I saw the mysterious boy I'd met a week before appear, hands crossed in front of him, his head resting on them.

It's him! That's got to be the guy! That kid's going to get tricked into something strange, isn't he? My mind raced as I tried to decide whether to stop the young man from signing the same contract the jailhouse boy had gotten me to sign. And, with my indecision, I allowed him to sign the same contract I'd signed. "I choose this fate of my own free will," the contract had read. What fate was I bound to? Was it the same fate as him? Soon enough, I would know. Because tomorrow, I was going to confront him.

But for now, I climbed back up to my room to prepare myself for the exploration of the city.


End file.
